The Annual Student and Faculty Surveys

Student Survey Information

Faculty Survey Information

Getting Started

FAEIS, the Food and Agricultural Education Information System, is a federally mandated survey that compiles nationwide higher education data for the life, food, veterinary, human, natural resource, and agricultural sciences. These data include student enrollment, degrees awarded, transfer, and placement at all degree levels by gender and race. This also includes faculty counts and salaries by gender, race, and rank. Institutions with degree programs that fall within the FAEIS purview are required to submit their student and faculty data annually. We work in partnership with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). To get started, you must have an account with FAEIS. Email faeis@vt.edu and we will create an account for you. Once your account has been created, you set your password. When you log into the system, you will see multiple tabs that will allow you to add or edit departments, programs and contacts for you institution. It will also allow you to complete the annual student and faculty surveys. If you need assistance completing a task, please view this video tutorial of the system or contact the FAEIS HelpDesk at faeis@vt.edu or 540-231-4941.

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Key Dates

FAEIS consists on multiple surveys, each with its own start date and due date.

  • Fall Total Enrollment Survey:

    • Starts on October 1 and is due by November 1.
    • The Fall Total Enrollment Survey is sent out to colleges of agriculture surveyed by FAEIS who are also members of the Association of Public & Land-Grant Universities (APLU). Individuals contacted will be asked for the total number of students that are enrolled in their college during the Fall semester, broken down by degree level (Associate, Baccalaureate, Graduate).

  • Detailed Student Survey:

    • Starts on November 15 and is due by March 1.
    • The Detailed Student Survey ask for enrollment, degrees awarded, transfer, and placement data broken down by program, degree level, gender, and race/ethnicity. Survey responders at each institution will be notified by email at the opening of the survey. Reminders will be sent out periodically.

  • Faculty Survey

    • Starts on January 15 and is due by June 1.
    • The Faculty Survey asks for detailed information regarding faculty members in the college. Survey responders will be notified by email of the survey opening.
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Fall Total Enrollment Survey

The Fall Total Enrollment survey is sent out to institutions that are members of the Association of Public & Land-Grant Universities (APLU). The survey begins on October 1st and is due on November 1st. Individuals will be contacted and asked for the total number of students that are enrolled in at the institution’s college of agriculture (or in a few cases college of natural resource) during the Fall semester, broken down by degree level (Associate, Baccalaureate, Graduate). This will not ask for program, gender, or race/ethnicity breakdown. This is not the total enrollment of the institution, it is the total enrollment of the college.

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Detailed Student Survey

The Detailed Student Survey is comprised of four surveys: enrollment, degrees awarded, transfer, and placement. The surveys ask for headcounts for programs that are in the FAEIS purview broken down by program name, degree level, gender and race/ethnicity. Survey responders can submit the data in one of three ways: through the online system, by completing an excel workbook, or submitting a data file. The survey begins on November 15th and is due March 1st. Periodic reminders are emailed out regarding the detailed student survey.

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Enrollment Survey

The Student Enrollment Survey collect the headcount of undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in programs that are in the FAEIS purview in the Fall semester. It is intended to capture a snapshot of the Fall semester once the institution’s census date has passed. All students (full-time and part-time, on-campus and online) who are enrolled in a degree program (Associate, Baccalaureate, Masters, Doctoral) should be counted. Please exclude certificate programs. Students must be reported under the program (major) they are enrolled in. If the student has more than one major, please only report them under their first major. All programs must be accompanied by its corresponding Classification of Instructional Program (CIP) code. The program name can be reported as it exists at your institution or you can report the corresponding CIP code name. You can update the list of instructional programs for your institution at any time. There are two data entry forms for the student enrollment survey:

  1. Undergraduate Enrollment (Associate, Baccalaureate)
  2. Graduate Enrollment (Masters(thesis), Masters(other), Doctoral)

You can complete the survey one of three ways: through the online interface, completing an excel workbook, or submitting a data file. If you complete the survey using the online system or the excel workbook, you will see one form for undergraduate enrollment and one form for graduate enrollment. If you submit a data file instead, you will need a column to differentiate the degree level. Masters degrees need to be reported as either Masters(thesis) or Masters(other). Masters(thesis) indicates that a formal thesis has to be written in order for the student to earn their degree. Masters(other) indicates that the program does not require a thesis – it might require passing a cumulative exam instead. If your institution does not track the difference between the two, report all of the masters students under Masters(thesis). In addition to CIP code and degree level, student enrollment must also be broken down by gender and race/ethnicity.

Required Enrollment Variable Definitions

Below is a summary of the required data elements for the enrollment survey:

  • CIP Code – The 6-digit code that best reflects the program. This should be the same code that is used to report to the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).
  • Program Name – The name of the program as it is at your institutions or the CIP code name.
  • Degree Level – Two Year/Associate, Four-Year/Baccalaureate, Masters(thesis), Masters(other), Doctoral.
  • Gender – Male, Female, or Unknown.
  • Race/Ethnicity – All Non-US Citizens, American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian, Black (non-Hispanic), Hispanic, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, Two or More Races, Unknown Ethnicity, Unspecified Minority, White (non-Hispanic).
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Degrees Awarded Survey

The Degrees Awarded Survey counts the total number of degrees that were awarded for programs that are in the FAEIS purview during the previous academic year (the 2020 Degrees Awarded survey would include all degrees that were awarded during the 2019-2020 academic year). All students who were awarded a degree (Associate, Baccalaureate, Masters, Doctoral) should be included. Please exclude students who were awarded certificates. Students must be reported under the program/major they were awarded. If the student double majored and earned two bachelors degrees, please only report them under their first major. If a student earned two degrees of different levels in the same academic year (ex: bachelors earned in the fall semester and masters earned in the spring semester), please report both degrees.

All programs must be accompanied by its corresponding Classification of Instructional Program (CIP) code. The program name can be reported as it exists at your institution or you can report the corresponding CIP code name. You can update the list of instructional programs for your institution at any time. The survey can be completed one of three ways: through the online interface, completing an excel workbook, or submitting a data file. In addition to CIP code and degree level, degrees awarded must also be broken down by gender and race/ethnicity.

Required Degrees Awarded Variable Definitions

Below is a summary of the required data elements for the degrees awarded survey:

  • CIP Code – The 6-digit code that best reflects the program. This should be the same code that is used to report to the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).
  • Program Name – The name of the program as it is at your institutions or the CIP code name.
  • Degree Awarded – Associate, Baccalaureate, Masters and Doctoral.
  • Gender – Male, Female, Unknown.
  • Race/Ethnicity – All Non-US Citizens, American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian, Black (non-Hispanic), Hispanic, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, Two or More Races, Unknown Ethnicity, Unspecified Minority, White (non-Hispanic).
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Transfer Survey

The Transfer Survey is a count of all students who transferred from a two-year institution to a four-year institution into programs that are in the FAEIS purview during the Fall semester. The Transfer Survey is a subset of the Enrollment Survey. This should only include all students who transfer into a Baccalaureate program, not into another Associates degree program. All students (full-time and part-time, on-campus and online) who are enrolled in a baccalaureate program should be counted. Please do not include those enrolled in certificate or associate programs. Students must be reported under the program (major) they are enrolled in. If the student has more than one major, please only report them under their first major. All programs must be accompanied by its corresponding Classification of Instructional Program (CIP) code. The program name can be reported as it exists at your institution or you can report the corresponding CIP code name. You can update the list of instructional programs for your institution at any time. The survey can be completed one of three ways: through the online interface, completing an excel workbook, or submitting a data file. In addition to CIP code, the transfer headcounts must also be broken down by gender and race/ethnicity.

Required Transfer Variable Definitions

Below is a summary of the required data elements for the transfer survey:

  • CIP Code – The 6-digit code that best reflects the program. This should be the same code that is used to report to the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).
  • Program Name – The name of the program as it is at your institutions or the CIP code name.
  • Gender – Male, Female, Unknown.
  • Race/Ethnicity – All Non-US Citizens, American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian, Black (non-Hispanic), Hispanic, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, Two or More Races, Unknown Ethnicity, Unspecified Minority, White (non-Hispanic).
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Placement Survey

The Placement Survey tracks what graduates are doing upon completion of their degree. The Placement Survey should be completed for all programs where degrees awarded have been counted. The total number of students that are reported for the Placement Survey should be the same as the total number of students who were awarded Baccalaureate, Masters, or Doctoral degrees. There are two Placement Surveys. You can choose which of the two surveys to complete. The two Placement Surveys are by:

  1. Placement Sector
  2. Occupational Groups

Required Placement Variable Definitions

Gender and ethnicity are not counted in the Placement Survey. For the first survey option, Placement Sector, the categories for sectors are:

  1. Government – Jobs that are for the local, state, or federal government.
  2. Education – Jobs in the education field, regardless of what level.
  3. Private – Jobs in the private sector.
  4. Other Employment – use this for jobs not classified above, such as non-profits.
  5. Graduate Study – Graduates pursuing advanced/additional study in higher education
  6. Foreign – Non-U.S. citizens who will return to their own country after graduation.
  7. Not Placed – Graduates still seeking or not seeking employment.
  8. No Info – Graduate did not respond, no information available.

The second survey option, Occupational Group, is the more detailed option of the two forms and it is intended for institutions that have placement surveys with the U. S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics categories in their response. The survey screen will have two forms. Headcounts should be entered in the upper form if the employment is in the Government, Education, or Private. If it is not one of those, then it should be entered into the correct category in the lower form. The FAEIS Placement by Occupational Group survey includes the following BLS categories:

  • 11-0000 Management Occupations.
  • 13-0000 Business and Financial Operations Occupations.
  • 15-0000 Computer and Mathematical Occupations.
  • 17-0000 Architecture and Engineering Occupations.
  • 19-0000 Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations.
  • 21-0000 Community and Social Services Occupations.
  • 23-0000 Legal Occupations.
  • 25-0000 Education, Training, and Library Occupations.
  • 27-0000 Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations.
  • 29-0000 Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations.
  • 31-0000 Healthcare Support Occupations.
  • 33-0000 Protective Service Occupations.
  • 35-0000 Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations.
  • 37-0000 Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations.
  • 39-0000 Personal Care and Service Occupations.
  • 41-0000 Sales and Related Occupations.
  • 43-0000 Office and Administrative Support Occupations.
  • 45-0000 Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations.
  • 47-0000 Construction and Extraction Occupations.
  • 49-0000 Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations.
  • 51-0000 Production Occupations.
  • 53-0000 Transportation and Material Moving Occupations.
  • 55-0000 Military Specific Occupations.

Below are images of what each placement survey looks like:

Option 1: Placement by Sector

Screenshot of the placement by sector form showing a table with column headings for university level and row headings for placement area.

Option 2: Placement by Occupational Groups

Screenshot of the occupational placement form showing a table with column headings for university level and row headings for occupational group.
Screenshot of the other placement form showing a table with column headings for university level and row headings for non-occupational cluster.

The survey can be completed one of three ways: through the online interface, completing an excel workbook, or submitting a data file. If completing the placement survey online, the dashboard allows you to choose which of the two placement forms you will complete under step 3. The default form is Placement by Sector. If you’d prefer to fill the Placement Survey out in Excel Workbook, please email the FAEIS HelpDesk at faeis@vt.edu.

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Programs to Report

The FAEIS survey is federally mandated survey that is tasked with compiling nationwide higher education data for the life, food, veterinary, human, natural resource, and agricultural sciences. The programs that are reported will differ from institution to institution since each institution has its own organizational structure and offers programs in different academic units. If your institution has any of the following:

  • a college of agriculture
  • a college of natural resources
  • a college of family and consumer sciences

please report every program in that college. If your college offers programs that fall under the FAEIS purview (life, food, veterinary, human, natural resource, and agricultural sciences) but are instead housed in a department that is not one of the colleges listed above, include all of the programs in that department. All programs that are reported must be accompanied by a 6-digit Classification of Instructional Program (CIP) code. The main programs FAEIS tracks are those in the following program areas:

  • Agriculture, Agriculture Operations, and Related Sciences
  • Human Sciences/Family and Consumer Sciences
  • Natural Resources and Conservation

found in this FAEIS CIP Codes list. If you are not sure what programs to include from your institution, email faeis@vt.edu and we will put together a personalized list of programs to report on based on information that we find on your institution’s website.

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Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) Codes

All data that is reported to FAEIS must be organized by CIP codes – they are at the heart of FAEIS data. They are used to define the programs that exist at each institution. CIP codes area taxonomic scheme used to identify and track educational programs. They are defined by the U.S. Department of Education and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). You can view the official list of CIP codes and definitions from NCES CIP website. This list is updated every ten years. All FAEIS reporting must be by 6-digit CIP code. CIP codes are also used by the Institutional Research office at your institution for submitting data to the U.S. Department of Education. The Institutional Research office at your institution would be the first place to seek help if you are not sure what CIP code you should report your programs under. You can view the most common FAEIS CIP Codes crosswalked by Program and Academic Area. If you do not find a code that accurately matches your program, please contact the FAEIS office. The FAEIS Office continues to try to identify new and emerging programs. In many cases, the new programs are multi-disciplinary, but sometimes they really are new fields like Viticulture and Organic Agriculture that have not yet been classified.

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Updating Instructional Programs

Each institution is broken down into colleges/schools/departments/offices. Instructional programs are listed in the unit which offers them. The programs at your institution may change from year to year. If a change occurs at your institution, FAEIS needs to be informed either by email or by entering the change in the system yourself. It is crucial to establish an accurate list of programs before starting work on the surveys since the list of programs is what determines the surveys that are presented to the user on the Surveys screen. To update your institutions instructional programs:

  1. Go to the FAEIS homepage and login.
  2. Go to the “Organization -> Instructional Programs -> Current Instructional Programs” menu item.
  3. Scroll to the college or department you work with.
  4. Inspect the list of programs and ensure that it matches the current offerings.
  5. To remove a program, click the green “Edit” box and then click the “Deactivate” button that is at the bottom of the screen.
  6. To change the name of a program or to reclassify the program, click the green “Edit” box and then type the updated name in the “Local Program Name” text box.
  7. To add programs that are not listed, click on the green “Create Program” button that is located at the bottom of the cell for the academic unit. If the program is a split of a previous program, a “Parent Program” should be selected. Program splits and mergers frequently lead to dramatic changes in headcount that need to be explained by inspecting the source of shifts.
  8. If you have program changes outside of the current year or have other difficulty describing your current program offerings using the interface, email the FAEIS HelpDesk at faeis@vt.edu for assistance.
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Race and Ethnicity Definitions

Please classify each student’s race/ethnicity according to the following definitions:

  • All Non-US Citizens – A person who is a non-resident alien in the United States. This also includes international students.
  • American Indian or Alaskan Native – A person having origins in any of the original peoples of North America, or who maintains cultural identification through tribal affiliation or community recognition.
  • Asian – A person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia or the Indian Subcontinent. This includes people from China, Japan, Korea, the Philippine Islands, India and Vietnam.
  • Black (non-Hispanic) – A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa (except those of Hispanic origin).
  • Hispanic – A person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central or South American or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.
  • Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander – A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Hawaii or other Pacific Islands.
  • Two or More Races (Multiple Race/Ethnicity) – Individuals who identify with more than one race or more than one ethnicity.
  • Unknown Ethnicity – Data not available, data missing, or student did not report.
  • Unspecified Minority – Report minority students in this category if unable to separate minority students into ethnic breakdowns
  • White (not-Hispanic) – A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, North Africa, or the Middle East (except those of Hispanic origin).
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Online Data Entry Instructions

All of the FAEIS surveys ( enrollment, degrees awarded, transfer, placement, faculty) can be completed online using our system’s interface. The surveys do not have to be completed in one session. You can save your work and return to any survey at any time. To complete the surveys online:

  1. Go to the FAEIS homepage and login.
  2. Go to the “Surveys” tab.
  3. From the “College/Department” dropdown menu, pick a college or department to work in.
  4. From the dropdown menu, select which survey form you will complete.
  5. To complete the survey for a specific instructional program, click on the green “Edit” button associated with the instructional program.
  6. Enter the headcounts for the specified attributes in the form. This application auto-saves. You may stop at any point and resume your work later.
  7. Save and finish the form when you are finished. Your data will not be used in reports until it is marked finished.
  8. Click on either “Next Survey” or “Back to Surveys” to provide headcounts for a different program
  9. Repeat as needed until you have provided data for all programs you have access to. There is a unit completion progress meter as well as an institutional progress meter at the top of the Surveys screen. All survey users have the ability to report on all surveys at their institution. Institutional administrators are responsible for overseeing delegation of reporting effort across survey users.
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Excel Workbook Instructions

All of the FAEIS surveys (enrollment, degrees awarded, transfer, placement, faculty) can be completed using an Excel Workbook. If you prefer to fill out the survey form using an Excel Workbook, email FAEIS at faeis@vt.edu and they can generate a workbook that is specific to your institution. The workbook will contain multiple tabs, one for each survey form (Undergraduate Enrollment, Graduate Enrollment, Degrees Awarded, Transfer, Placement by Sector, Placement by Occupation). Once you complete the workbook, email it back FAEIS. You can download a sample workbook to preview.

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Data File Upload Instructions

All of the FAEIS surveys (enrollment, degrees awarded, transfer, placement, faculty) can be completed by submitting a data file. FAEIS will accept files regardless of format as long as the data is disaggregated by the required variables, as described in the appropriate sections above.

Uniquely identify program

The data file must also uniquely identify the reported program. Depending on how your institution is set up, you will need a combination of the following:

  • 6-digit CIP code: All data files must include the 6-digit CIP code for each program. If your institution does not report in further detail (by major/option/specialization) and no program is offered by multiple colleges, you only need this. This is always the same CIP code that is reported to IPEDS (Integrated Postseconday Education Data System).
  • Program name: If your institution reports programs in greater detail (by major/option/specialization), you must also include the program name. This name should match what we have on file in our system. You can view the current list of programs the the “Organization -> Instructional Programs -> Current Instructional Programs” menu item. You can update instructional programs as needed.
  • Unit name: If any program is offered in multiple departments or colleges, you must provide the department or college name.

File Formats

We do have preferred file formats for the Enrollment and Degrees Awarded Surveys that make the import process fast and easy on our end.

Required Student Datafile Variable Definitions

You can view the list of required variables and preferred variable values for each survey:

Submitting A Data File

Once your file is prepared:

  1. Go to the FAEIS homepage and login.
  2. Go to step 3 on the dashboard and select “Submit File”.
  3. Using the file picker, choose the xlsx, csv, or other format from your file system.
  4. Click Send.
  5. Files can only be sent one at a time. Attach files until you have submitted all of your data files. Once you submit all files, you are finished with your student surveys. FAEIS will contact you with any questions concerning submitted data files.

You can also email your data file to faeis@vt.edu and the FAEIS HelpDesk will import the file on your behalf.

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Faculty Survey

The Faculty Survey asks for detailed information regarding faculty members in the college. This information is often used by institutions to compare their faculty to that of their peers. The data can be used by deans to see what their peers are doing when it comes to hiring and promotions. The survey starts on January 15 and is due by June 1. Data must be provided for every faculty member in the college. Please include all faculty appointments, part-time and full-time, who are responsible for instruction (teaching), administration of instructional programs, research, or extension. Do not report personnel on leave without pay, adjunct status, research associates, clerical staff, or support staff. Exclude all employees who do not explicitly have a faculty appointment.

Required Faculty Variable Definitions

The faculty survey asks for the following information about each faculty member:

  • Identification String – An identifier, usually a combination of the faculty member’s initials and/or id number at the institution. The same unique identifier should be used assigned to each faculty member and then that identifier should be used when completing the survey each year.
  • Gender – Male, Female, Unknown.
  • Race/Ethnicity – All Non-US Citizens, American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian, Black (non-Hispanic), Hispanic, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, Two or More Races, Unknown Ethnicity, Unspecified Minority, White (non-Hispanic).
  • U.S. Citizen – Yes, No, Unknown.
  • Birth Month – Month the individual was born.
  • Birth Year – Year the individual was born.
  • Average Monthly Salary – Calculate the monthly salary: (annual salary/months of appointment).
  • Appointment Status – Full-time or Part-time.
  • Employment Start Year – The year the faculty member was hired.
  • Appointment Term – 1 to 12 months.
  • Primary Discipline – The discipline by which you would identify a faculty member (ie Forestry – 03.0501). Recorded by CIP Code.
  • College Administrator – Is the faculty member a dean or associate dean – Yes or No.
  • Department Head – Is the faculty member a department head – Yes or No.
  • Tenure Track – Tenured, Tenure Track (Not Yet Tenured), Non-Tenured.
  • Academic Rank – Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, Instructor, Senior Lecturer, Lecturer, Extension Agent, Other Faculty (Visiting Professor, etc.).
  • Highest Degree Received – Doctorate, Masters, Baccalaureate, Unknown.

The survey also asks for the total FTE (full time equivalent) of the faculty members by appointment type:

  • Teaching FTE
  • Research FTE
  • Extension-Outreach FTE
  • Administrative FTE
  • Other Appointments FTE
  • Temporary leave/Sabbatical FTE

Please note that the survey no longer asks for the FTE breakdown of each faculty member by CIP code. It only requires the overall FTE by appointment type. This change was made to reduce the time it takes to complete the survey.

The Faculty Survey can be completed either in our system by clicking on the “Faculty Surveys” tab or you can generate an excel sheet with all of the information and email it to FAEIS at faeis@vt.edu. Before generating a file, please download a sample Faculty Data File and view the list of required variables for the Faculty Survey.

If you or anyone else at your institution has completed the Faculty Survey before, please reach out to us and we will generate a pre-populated spreadsheet for you past on the most recent data that was submitted. You would still need to edit, add, and/or remove faculty members listed on the spreadsheet, but it would dramatically reduce the amount of work on your end.

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